Osrica McLean '18

Rebecca Stouges

Drake Rivas '18

Shane Coughlin

Tiffanie Katsuva

Tyler Prime

Susanna van Rooyen '19

Victoria Smith '18

Julia Wagner '18

Maggie Whittemore '17

William Langdon

Rob Litchfield '17

How did you hear about St. Mike's?

I’ve known about Saint Michael’s College ever since I was a kid. My mom attended the school for one year and a handful of other relatives on her side of the family went to school here as well. They all graduated with science and business degrees, so that’s sort of what I associated the college with for a long time. As a senior in high school looking at colleges, however, I was surprised to see Saint Michael’s so far up on the list for journalism, the major I wanted to pursue. Dozens of reviews I read spoke highly of the MJD department and its professors, which really impressed me and brought the school to the forefront of my college search. So I would consider that really the first time I heard about Saint Michael’s College.

Why did you choose Saint Michael's College?

I always respected Saint Michael’s College, but I guess I never really truly accepted it as “my” school until the summer prior to my freshman year when I attended an overnight orientation weekend. My classmates were all friendly and like-minded people, who enjoyed the same music and liked the same sports teams. Some of them are still my closest friends to this day. The employees, from the grounds crew to the professors, to the Student Life office, were all warm and friendly. I've never felt more welcome at a school in my life. The campus itself is so beautiful, with transparently large amounts of resources invested in the landscaping. Colorful flowers, kept grass and an emblematic clock in the heart of campus attribute to the beautiful scenery. To sum it all up, I’d say I chose Saint Michael’s because of its tight community and welcoming atmosphere.

How have you made it your ‘Home Away From Home'?

You know, a lot of students say that coming to St. Mike’s was a struggle because they shifted from going to a heavily populated city area to the middle of the woods we call Vermont. For me, I grew up in a small town called Jamaica in southern Vermont — a town even more desolate, if you can imagine. My graduating high school class was less than 60 students. So coming to St. Mike’s was a struggle for the opposite reason in my case. It took a good amount of adjusting to live in the Burlington area. But the people here are great. They’re like-minded, nice and always look out for each other, something I’ve never seen at any other college I’ve visited. So I’d say it was the quality of the people — the community — that made Saint Michael’s my home away from home.

What kind of contact do you have with Alumni?

As mentioned before, a lot of interaction I have with alumni takes place within family gatherings as most of my uncles and aunts and cousins were graduates of the college. However, I will say that as I started taking my work outside of Saint Michael’s college, I was surprised to run into so many alumni in the Burlington area who have jobs in the field I’m trying to get into. For such a small private school in Vermont, the amount of connections St. Mike’s offers is unreal.

"I wasn’t completely sold on St. Mike’s when I first got accepted. I wanted to leave Vermont and head for Boston where all the “jobs” were. But becoming a Purple Knight has honestly been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I’m a firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason, and that philosophy has been reinforced through coming here. I’m proud when I tell people where I go to school and what I study and I’ve met some of my best friends and coworkers along the way."